Two years ago, the Conference of Rulers created a precedent when it announced that Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah was to replace the then chief justice Mohd Eusoff Chin, thereby superseding the traditional bearer of the news the Prime Minister's Department.

Whether the Rulers will again announce their choice of the highest judge of the land after holding their meeting later this month is anyone's guess.

What is within the conjecture of the legal fraternity, however, are the likely candidates for the post, and familiar names like Court of Appeal president Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, Federal Court judges Abdul Malek Ahmad, Haidar Mohd Noor and Siti Norma Yaakob are being bandied about.

From the list, Ahmad Fairuz looks like the most likely candidate to replace Dzaiddin, largely due to his position as the second man in command of the judiciary.

However legal fraternity sources are not confident if Ahmad Fairuz will be the right candidate to continue the changes implemented by Dzaiddin to repair the damaged image of the judiciary.

Ahmad Fairuz is not seen by many as a "reformist" and "progressive" judge. His judgments are usually labeled as "safe judgments", which include the sacking of DAP candidate for the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat in the 1995 general elections and giving the seat to the Barisan Nasional candidate.

Ahmad Fairuz was also a panel member in the Court of Appeal that dismissed lawyer Zainur Zakaria's appeal against his 1998 contempt of court conviction. Zainur was cited for contempt for applying on behalf of Anwar Ibrahim to disqualify two senior prosecutors from prosecuting Anwar's corruption trial.

However, Ahmad Fairuz is closely associated with Dzaiddin, a relationship many feel will be vital in continuing to improve the judiciary.

His rise in the judiciary ranks has been rapid. He was appointed as the Chief Judge of High Courts in October 2001, and two months ago he was again promoted to the post of the Court of Appeal president.